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[Hero Academy] Now on Steam with the TF2 Team! (PA League now actually works!)

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Just read that. Very cool! I hope all the teams I bought already transfer over to the Steam version as opposed to two separate platforms. Probably won't be so lucky though.

My guess is you will since they said you can use the TF2 on iOS once you buy it on Steam. This means the accounts are linked and there'd be no reason (other than them being greedy) for you to not have your iOS teams. I don't think they'd be so silly as to disenfranchise their market.

Hero Academy coming to Steam? Team Fortress 2 based team? Hero Academy items in TF2? Cats and dogs living together?

Just read that. Very cool! I hope all the teams I bought already transfer over to the Steam version as opposed to two separate platforms. Probably won't be so lucky though.

Edit: Teaser video is live!

Edit2: From the video description:

"The game launches on PC with two unique teams included, each with a variety of playable units. More heroic teams, avatars and add-ons are available via in-game purchase. Teams purchased in either the iOS or the Steam version of Hero Academy will work on all platforms."

Already purchased teams transfer and cross-over play with iPod/PC?! Robot Entertainment, you win this day sirs!

Sorry, had some ninja edits that got skipped. But yeah, this friggin' owns. I will give RE all my monies if they keep up the support of HA.

So now we all have to theory out how the TF2 team will play. Since I see all 9 guys there, I'm gonna assume they are all playable. Let's assume that the team will share item counts with the other teams (28 items/units each). Any thoughts on items, unit types, and so forth? I'm thinking hats will definitely be their helmet/armor equivalent upgrade.

It doesn't seem viable to have just one healer unit, so either you make the Medic be the unit that you have more than one of... or you make one of the other 8 units act as a healer function. Engineer? Maybe have the Engineer be able to place healing stations on the board? That way maybe you could just have one of each unit?

But then that would be 9 units vs Council/Elf/Dwarf 13, or Tribe's 14. Hmm...

I like your unit count guesses. It's really tough to imagine how they're going to design the Spy to stay in line with the TF2 concept, though. I tossed around some ideas a few weeks ago around stealthy units or information denial/misdirection abilities, but most of my ideas fell apart because of the player's ability to hit an undo button, e.g., you have unlimited tries to spot check everywhere in range to find a cloaked Spy.

I like your unit count guesses. It's really tough to imagine how they're going to design the Spy to stay in line with the TF2 concept, though. I tossed around some ideas a few weeks ago around stealthy units or information denial/misdirection abilities, but most of my ideas fell apart because of the player's ability to hit an undo button, e.g., you have unlimited tries to spot check everywhere in range to find a cloaked Spy.

No idea what you'd do for a team-wide special trait.

Yeah, Spy could be really tough. How about something like the Spy can create 2 clones of himself and place them next to his current location. The player can assign the real Spy to any of the 3 units. The clones all appear/act like the normal Spy except they can't attack. Attacking with the Spy cancels the clones and allows the Spy to create new ones. Also when the Spy or Clone Spy is KO'd if he isn't stomped he automatically gets up on his own with like 100 hp.

I haven't actually played as any of the races besides Council, but I assume they all follow the basic idea of "click your unit once to select it, click somewhere else once to do the action." Whether that's move, attack, heal, etc depends on what unit you have and what you target. Simplicity is the idea.

@MNCDover, your Spy idea is cool, but I don't see how it could clone itself without changing that interface, which I'm doubting they'll do (assuming they haven't yet).

I haven't actually played as any of the races besides Council, but I assume they all follow the basic idea of "click your unit once to select it, click somewhere else once to do the action." Whether that's move, attack, heal, etc depends on what unit you have and what you target. Simplicity is the idea.

@MNCDover, your Spy idea is cool, but I don't see how it could clone itself without changing that interface, which I'm doubting they'll do (assuming they haven't yet).

I haven't actually played as any of the races besides Council, but I assume they all follow the basic idea of "click your unit once to select it, click somewhere else once to do the action." Whether that's move, attack, heal, etc depends on what unit you have and what you target. Simplicity is the idea.

@MNCDover, your Spy idea is cool, but I don't see how it could clone itself without changing that interface, which I'm doubting they'll do (assuming they haven't yet).

That's a good point Kime. Hmmm.....

The only thing really missing with the ideas above is the attack. If he counts as a "super" then he should have a 1-hit kill (backstab) if he is behind an enemy unit. Combine that with the spawn as a different unit principle and boom my new favorite unit.

Another concept would be that the Spy is the scroll! Spy (Scroll) a unit, he becomes the spy, does 175% or 3X damage if behind a unit. After turn unit returns to normal.

And yet another concept is that the Spy is the special item. Click on Spy (in your hand) to select, click on enemy unit, high damage dealt equal to other special item attacks.

Hey I was thinking, we should do a 1v1 "live match" and post the results (via a link) in this thread. The idea would be that two PA people plan a date and time to sit at their iOS devices to play a complete game. The goal would be to get the game done quickly (like 30 minutes -1 hour) with each player taking a screen shot of their board after they finish their turn. While waiting for your opponent, you could jot down notes discussing what/why you did what you did on your turn. Help see how other players think or agree with your tactics/strats.

After the game is over, both players would submit the pictures as a zip file to myself (or anyone else who'd like to host) and they'd get uploaded in order with the comments included. Finally, a link to the site would be dropped into the thread for everyone to enjoy.

So, anyone wanna give this a shot? I'll volunteer to be one player if no one wants to be a beta subject. I'm not expert at uploading blog style stuff (this would be image intensive) but could look into it. If someone else would like to head that off, I'd gladly accept the help.

Ever have one of those moves that is so pimp, you just know you've made the highlight reel? I had one of those just now. Moved a weapon upgraded Chieftain into position in front of my middle crystal a turn prior and baited an Axe Thrower to attack my Axe Thrower. Opponent took the bait so I Typhoon'd his Chieftain off his attack tile, moved onto it, ate meat, and swirl attacked 6 units to death (including 2 Shamans!).

Of course, the fucker spawns his third Shaman, heals all his units, and uses his meat enhanced Witch to KO my Chieftain. I was so angry until I noticed that I was about to follow a pimp ass play with another one....

I can neither confirm nor deny if my opponent has burst a blood vessel or not.

So what's the etiquette on this league? I work odd hours, but typically log in a few times per day, although I'll sometimes go a day or two without. In a league I could dedicate myself a bit more, but the hours I play wouldn't match up with most of you. How many turns are expected per day? I might be interested.

Some forumers play more often, some less, and for many it varies. I have fewer active games than I used to due to life being busy and me being antsy for new game content, but I expect I'll be back to having a full date card when the TF2 patch comes.

As a side note, I wish that there was some sort of replay capability with this game! I just don't keep up with screenshots, and even then, they don't really convey everything that goes on during a turn.

Got this game a week ago, and god damn. Best game I ever played on a mobile platform, by a long long way.

I've spent some time with all the teams, though, and I feel like I'm really missing something with the elves. They feel significantly weaker than the other teams to me, for two reasons - lack of viable AoE, and the wraith. Seems like the other teams can all change the game immediately with either immediately after their hero unit hits the field, or with some crazy AoE spell that does double the damage of any of the Elves single target spells.

It's mostly the wraith, though. I cringe when I get one i my starter hand Please help me be a better elf! I love their mechanics but don't do so well with them compared to the other races.

It may be hard to dig up, but I did a writeup on wraith strategy a while back in the thread that might help. The community on the official forums have also been working on guides for each team; when I find myself back at a real computer I'll have to link to them.

I've become to have a love obsession with Void Monks. Get them a Helmet and Soulstone and they become extremely hard to kill. 960 hp/40% magic resist/20% physical resist. On top of that, they heal on hit, do splash damage, and have 3 movement.

Seriously, give that VM set-up a go. Careful use of Soulharvest and Potions can get their hp over 1000 making them extremely sick.

As for the Wraith, I've won a ton of games just by sacrificing units for him to eat. Once he eats two people, I typically give him upgrades. I fully charged Wraith with an attack upgrade does 600 magical damage, enough to two-shot almost every unit in the game.

Yea, I am going to start browsing the RE Hero Academy forums to read up on each team more. I want to get better because I find myself loving the game after a long break and then realizing I am horrible.

Yea, I am going to start browsing the RE Hero Academy forums to read up on each team more. I want to get better because I find myself loving the game after a long break and then realizing I am horrible.

Why go to those forums when you have a perfectly fine set of PA people that can answer any questions you have?

Some forumers play more often, some less, and for many it varies. I have fewer active games than I used to due to life being busy and me being antsy for new game content, but I expect I'll be back to having a full date card when the TF2 patch comes.

Yea, I am going to start browsing the RE Hero Academy forums to read up on each team more. I want to get better because I find myself loving the game after a long break and then realizing I am horrible.

Why go to those forums when you have a perfectly fine set of PA people that can answer any questions you have?

I just want something that I can sit and read through at my own pace. If I asked questions, I would take up the next 1,000 pages. After I read through the guides, I will 100% bug the shit out of everyone in here.

Hey so my iPhone is not waterproof it turns out...
I'm not sure how I'm going to be playing for a while. Just a heads up to all you folks waiting for a turn from me
I'll keep you posted if this changes. Steam is an option now, right?

1st ever "Penny-Arcade Hero Academy Tournament" Toilet Bowl Champion!
"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."

Ugh, Brew, that's rough.. I've been there. My play has taken a SERIOUS drop since i dropped my phone (it was bareback because I'm hardcore ) and it felt jelly side down and shattered the glass.. I've been thinking of trying a glass swap, not sure if I wanna pay $100 since I'm gonna be upgrading to the new iPhone later this year, so I've just been patient.. been using my iPad when I can pry it away from my girlfriend (we agreed to share it..)

Anyway, I'm gonna try and get my turns in and maybe get some league games in soon. Wish I could quit coming to this thread to say how I plan to play more, but meh..

Hey so my iPhone is not waterproof it turns out...
I'm not sure how I'm going to be playing for a while. Just a heads up to all you folks waiting for a turn from me
I'll keep you posted if this changes. Steam is an option now, right?

Ouch, that sucks; I've had some close calls with my own phone. Did you try the bag of rice trick? Or is it too damaged for that to have any hope?

Sorry league opponents - I've been dealing with that super-awesome old friend Undisclosed Water Damage In My Newly-Bought House™, and so my turnaround of turns has been underwhelming. I have four games outstanding that I will make sure to visit tonight during my "drinking something with gin and wondering how it will all get fixed" pre-sleep phase.